Food pouch opening device

Abstract

A device for opening food pouches including a spring loaded handle provided with stripping rods and a pouch cutter. The stripping rods pivotally engage one another so that a heated food pouch may be grasped by the opening device in tongs-like manner. The stripping rods include opposing smooth planar abutting surfaces for stripping food away from the end of the pouch to be opened. A cutting blade, preferably hook-shaped in configuration and mounted adjacent the free end of one of the stripping rods is operable to slit the pouch, while the pouch is still in the grasp of the stripping rods, by retraction of the device relative to the pouch.

I claim: 
     
       1. A food pouch opening device comprising: a handle;   a pair of stripping rods affixed to said handle, and pivotaly moveable in relationship to one another from a closed to open position, said rods operable to clampingly engage a food pouch to tongs-like manner, and said rods having parallel abutting surfaces when in the closed position for stripping contents from a food pouch; and   cutting means affixed to at least one of said rods adjacent the terminal free end thereof, said cutting means operable to cut a food pouch for emptying the contents thereof.   
     
     
       2. The apparatus as described in claim 1 further comprising a compression spring connected to said rods to maintain said rods in a normally open position. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said handle and said stripping rods are unitary in construction. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said cutting means is hook-like in construction, including a cutting blade, a portion of said blade being coplanar with the abutment surface of the stripping rod to which it is attached for cutting the food pouch upon retraction of the device relative to the pouch. 
     
     
       5. A pouch opening device comprising: a handle having two arms pivotally joined by a spring coil; a pair of rods, each rod connected to a respective arm of said handle; each rod provided with a smooth surface for abuttment of the opposing rod; and   a cutting blade attached to the free terminal end of one of said rods, said blade operable to engage and slit a pouch placed between said stripping rods upon retraction of the device relative to the pouch when said stripping rods are in close apposition.   
     
     
       6. The apparatus as described in claim 5 wherein said rods are integral with said handle. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus as described in claim 5 wherein said cutting blade is hook-shaped in construction to engage the pouch substantially perpendicular to the plane of the walls of the pouch when said pouch is placed between said rods. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus as described in claim 5 wherein one of said rods is provided with a latch to restrict displacement of said rods relative to one another.